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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. roll — a cake
  4. season — in sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. season — of the year
  10. roll — a list
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a path
  13. clip — a video
  14. track — a song
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. land — to come down
  17. clip — to cut
  18. kid — child
  19. land — ground
  20. land — a country
  21. kid — to tease
  22. clip — for paper
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. jam — a tight spot

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com